Articles about Dana Green

October 26 – November 1, 2015

Do you want to know what Third Rail has up our sleeves for the coming week? Then you have come to the right place. It’s time for: This Week at Third Rail!

The Realistic Joneses is up and running and we have a hit on our hands. Audiences are loving it and leaving the theatre with tears in their eyes. Our guess is mostly tears of laughter, but there really isn’t anything like spending an evening with Will Eno’s words – especially words brought to life by Kerry Ryan, Dana Green, Michael O’Connell, and Darius Pierce. You have three weeks left to see the show. Tickets are available for purchase, or you could become a Member and see the show as many times as you’d like!

That would be enough for one week, but there’s more! This week, PETE: All Well opens! When was the last time you were truly in the dark? What creatures lurk? All Well is a sound-installation that will envelop audiences in the pitch black of an icebound ship, midwinter. All Well will travel through the hidden spaces of the Imago Theatre, on a journey inspired by the doomed Franklin Expedition of 1845-48. All from the comfort of a hammock. Space is quite limited, so get tickets early to this; or if you are a Member, call ahead to reserve your seat! Or make a night of it – see The Realistic Joneses and stay for All Well!

And that concludes This Week in Third Rail! To find out about next week, keep your eyes on this space!

October is shaping up to be an exciting month at Third Rail. Honestly, all of the months are exciting here but we really do believe October is going to be particularly special (and you can tell July we said that!). Why will October be so notable?

Closes October 10

So, we start the month with the last two weekends of this wonderful production. If you have not yet seen it, you are missing a truly excellent play about one of the first female playwrights, written by one of the great modern female playwrights, and starring two of Portland’s greatest female actors. It’s not too late to start your Third Rail October with us by seeing Or,!

Opens October 23

Not two weeks later, we open our next show, The Realistic Joneses by Will Eno – who wrote last year’s hit, Middletown. Directed by Company Member Rebecca Lingafelter and starring Company Members Michael O’Connell, Kerry Ryan, and Darius Pierce, along with guest artist Dana Green, who you may remember from her Drammy-nominated work in Gidion’s Knot. This is an hilarious and deeply human play that will gracefully and humorously grab the baton from Or,.

October 27 – November 1

Following the success of The Bylines: Meant to Be, October also bring us our second Wild Card! PETE: All Well looks to be a unique immersive experience: a sound-installation which will envelop audiences in the pitch black world of an icebound ship. Featuring a soundscape by PETE’s resident sound designer and Third Rail Company Member Mark Valadez, each performance will be limited to 25 audience members who will experience the piece from the comfort of their own hammock. With only 25 hammocks available each show, you’ll want to make sure you reserve your tickets as soon as possible.

October 18th

October also sees the beginning of perhaps our most anticipated NT Live screening ever – Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Our Hamlet engagement began with four scheduled screenings which sold out so quickly that we have already added four additional showings. Get tickets while you can, they certainly won’t be around much longer.

October 25

As is true every month, we’ll also have a Bloody Sunday reading of a show we are considering for future production. Bloody Sunday readings are Members Only events and a unique way to peek inside the Third Rail process. In fact, October is going to be one of the best possible months to become a member – for under $30, you would have unlimited access to two Main Stage productions, a Wild Card production, and NT Live’s Hamlet – over $130 in programming! So the only question left is…

While Or,continues to delight audiences currently, our next show is Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses. But who, you ask, will be working on that show? Who are the artists bringing this profound and hilarious show to life? Whose work will I be seeing when I get to the theatre? Well…you have a lot of questions, but we do know the answers. And here they are:

Director:
The show is being helmed by Company Member Rebecca Lingafelter! A talented and distinguished actor, director, and producer, Rebecca is an invaluable Company Member of Third Rail, as well as a founding member of the Portland Ensemble Theater Ensemble (PETE). So, in addition to seeing her directorial work in The Realistic Joneses, you will also see her when you attend PETE’s Wild Card production of All Well.

Designers:
Our Sound Designer will be Company Member Mark Valadez! We are always delighted when we hear Mark’s thoughtful work during our productions. He is also the resident sound designer for PETE. So, his work will be heavily featured in All Well. Joining Mark at the design table is PETE’s resident costume designer, Jenny Ampersand. We’re thrilled that Jenny’s work will grace our stage for The Realistic Joneses, her first Third Rail design. Look for more information about our design time here as the rehearsal process continues…

The Cast:

Michael O’Connell (John) has appeared in over a dozen Third Rail productions, including Drammy-winning performances in The Lying Kind and Recent Tragic Events. He also starred in last season’s production of Will Eno’s Middletown. A Third Rail Company Member from the beginning, we are always eager to see him on our stage.

Kerry Ryan (Jennifer) became a Third Rail Company Member in 2013, and performed with us in A Bright New Boise. She has spent the last ten years holding membership with Imago Theatre, Theatre Vertigo, and the Anonymous Theatre Company. Now, she is bringing her unique and wonderful talent to our stage for the second time!

Darius Pierce (Bob) is a recent Company Member, having joined early in 2015. He is a co-founder of the Anonymous Theatre Company and was previously a longtime member of Theatre Vertigo. Now, he’ll be speaking Will Eno’s exceptional words again after joining the cast of last year’s Middletown.

Dana Green (Pony) has a resume far longer than we have room for here. In Portland, she’s performed at Portland Center Stage in Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; at Profile Theatre in Dead Man’s Cell Phone; and here at Third Rail in Gidion’s Knot. We could not be happier to have her back on the boards with us.

All four cast members and the director of The Realistic Joneses are past Drammy recipients. Not too shabby…

These extraordinary artists are hard at work on this extraordinary script. In just a few short weeks, you – our extraordinary patrons and supporters – will be in for (you guessed it) an extraordinary night of theatre.

As Or, prepares to open this Friday, our Members joined us for our first read of The Realistic Joneses. This was the second opportunity for Third Rail Members to be a part of the production experience from the very beginning.

We were introduced to the project by Third Rail Artistic Director, Scott Yarbrough, who explained how we’ve come to produce our second play by the brilliant Middletown playwright, Will Eno. Yarbrough will be involved in this production as a kind of Tom Hagen figure (consigliere) to the Don (director) a la The Godfather – his words (more or less). The Don, in this case, is Third Rail Company Member Rebecca Lingafelter. While Lingafelter has been seen several times on the Third Rail stage, this marks her first time as a Third Rail director.

The night progressed with beautiful and evocative design presentations from the creative team. It is a rare privilege to witness these creative minds transform words on a page to a vivid physical universe. Finally, we were treated to a reading of the play by the cast: Michael O’Connell, Dana Green, Darius Pierce, and Kerry Ryan. It is at once a touching, hilarious and deeply human play sure to be a must see this Fall. Watch this space to follow this production’s development over the next month, and be sure to book your tickets! Performances begin October 23rd and run through November 14th.

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The mission of Third Rail Repertory Theatre is to provide a dynamic artistic home for theatre audiences in Portland by fostering a professional local company, which, through collaboration and discipline, brings to life exceptional stories that provoke dialogue, encourage empathy, and inspire curiosity.